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How to Play Bridge

Jim Berglund’s Bridge - Lesson 1

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Introduction

♠ Contract Bridge is the hobby of tens of millions of people throughout the world — more so than any other card game. In social circles it is considered the card game. Whether you play casually among friends or seriously in clubs and tournaments, you will find it to be a fascinating, challenging and enjoyable pastime.

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A Brief History♠ More than 400 years ago the

game of Whist was invented in England. Whist evolved into Auction Bridge in 1904. In 1925 Harold Vanderbilt revised the scoring system in a truly ingenious way to give birth to Contract Bridge as we know it today. The early forms of the game still have a small following, but since about 1930 Contract Bridge has been the most popular by far. In fact, when one speaks or writes about “bridge” today, it is presumed to be Contract Bridge.

It is the greatest card game ever invented!

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Why is Bridge Popular?

♠ The popularity of bridge is attributable to several factors: It is an ideal game for entertaining guests, especially when two couples get together for an evening.

♠ It is easily adaptable to any large group such as card parties, bridge clubs, and even bridge tournaments for serious players.

♠ It is an ideal way to meet people and make new friends — a bridge player can find cohorts almost anywhere in the world.

♠ The game itself is so intriguing — ask someone about his bridge game last night and he will probably have lots of exciting hands to discuss.

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Contract vs Duplicate Bridge

♠ Contract, or Rubber bridge can be played with four people and a deck of cards. It is sometimes called ‘kitchen bridge’ since it is often played at home by family members or friends. It’s usually casual, is sometimes played for money, and typically requires very little bridge knowledge or expertise.

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Contract vs Duplicate Bridge♠ Duplicate Bridge is the focus of these

lessons. ♠ It requires at least 8 players (usually many

more), and is usually played at Bridge Clubs. Hands are pre-dealt into metal or plastic ‘boards’. All teams get to play the same hands as the boards are passed from one table to another.

♠ The game is managed by a Director, and most pairs have sophisticated understandings on the meaning of bids and the play of cards. Who wins is determined by which team gets the best score on each board.

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The Basics

♠Bridge is played with a deck of 52 cards and four people sitting at a table with the players who are sitting across from each other forming a partnership.

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Aims of the Game

♠ Each partnership tries to win (or

take) as many tricks as possible.

♠ Have Fun

♠ Make Friends

♠ Learn continuously and keep your

mind active

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♠There are four suits:

♣clubs ♦diamonds ♥ hearts and ♠ spades ♠ Hearts and spades are the Major suits. Clubs and diamonds are the

minor suits.

♠Each suit has 13 cards:♠ 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A

♠ In bridge, the deuce is the lowest card in the suit and the Ace is the highest.♠ Note: In the play of the cards there is no difference in the rank of

the suits (one is as good as another) unless there is a trump suit, in which case the trump suit outranks the other three. There is a difference in suit scoring, however, with Major suits (Hearts & Spades) paying more than minor suits (clubs & diamonds.)

Rank

About the Cards

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Getting Started – The Deal

♠ Draw cards to select the person to deal the cards (the dealer). This person distributes (DEALS) the cards face down, in clockwise rotation one at a time, until each player at the table has a hand consisting of 13 cards.

♠ Although it’s not mandatory, most players sort their cards into suits in descending order. Keep the suits separate by color (eg. ♦♠♥ , not ♣

♦♥ )♠♣

♠ After the play of each deal is completed, the opportunity to deal moves around the table clockwise so that each person has a turn to deal out the cards.

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The Bridge Hand at the Table

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A trick consists of 4 cards – one being played in turn by each of the players

There are 13 tricks in each bridge deal

The 2 players of each partnership work together to take as many tricks as possible

You must ‘follow suit’ (play a card from the suit that was led) if you can

If you cannot follow suit’, you can discard any card, which cannot win the trick (or play a trump to win the trick if you can

The card that wins the trick is the highest card played in the suit that was led (or a trump)

The player that wins the trick leads to the next trick

The bidding determines which player leads to trick 1 (the opening lead)

If you cannot possibly win the trick it is a good idea to play (or discard) a low card. Save your high cards for tricks that you might be able to win!

Tricks

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♠ The Ace = 4 HCP

♠ The Queen = 2 HCP

♠ In addition to giving points for high cards, points are given for the shape of the hand.

A five-card suit = 1 A six-card suit = 3

A seven-card suit = 5 An eight-card suit = 7.

♠ Subtract 1 point for an aceless hand.♠ Once you have valued your hand, the next step is to

bid according to its strength and shape. ♠ This hand values to 14 points. Figure out why…

♠AQ985 ♥AQ ♦65432 ♣6

♠ The King = 3 HCP

♠ The Jack = 1 HCP

Hand Valuation Basics (High Card Points)

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Hand Valuation Basics

♠ Notes: Many experts prefer adding distribution points on the basis of ‘shortness’:Void = 5 Singleton = 3 Doubleton = 1

♠ This method requires a ‘fit’ with partner.♠ For example, is Qx worth 2 points or 3?♠ A singleton K, or a doubleton KQ, QJ or KJ are

examples of ‘flawed honors’ as they are not quite worth full value.

♠ In actual fact, Aces and Kings are worth a ‘bit more’ than their 4 and 3 points. Queens and Jacks are slightly over-valued at 2 and 1

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Bidding (1)♠ Bidding is the language of bridge.

The players, through bidding, decide whether the deal is to be played in notrump or in a particular trump suit.

♠ The dealer has the first chance to bid. If the dealer has some high cards in the hand and a preference for one suit over another (usually decided by the length of the suit), dealer makes a bid to let his partner know which suit he prefers of the other cards played.

♠ If the dealer doesn’t have many high cards and doesn’t want to make a bid, he says “pass.”

♠ The highest ranking card from the trump suit wins the trick regardless of the rank

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Bids must be made according to the hierarchy of suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades and finally notrump. Thus, if 1♦ is the opening bid, the next hand to bid must bid at least 1♥, the next hand at least 1♠ and so on. If declarer were to open 1♠, the next bid would have to be 1NT or 2♣, 2♦ or 2♥ (or more)A call is a term for a pass, bid, double or redouble.

NT

♠

♥

♦

♣

Bidding (2)

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Bidding (3)♠ After the dealer makes a decision, based on his distribution and points, to bid or pass, each player in turn has an opportunity to make a call. At the end of the bidding, each partnership will have decided on the suit it wants to name as trumps and if it has enough strength (high cards) to bid for the privilege of naming trumps. Or one partnership will have passed, letting the opponents pick the trump suit in return for committing to winning a certain number of tricks.

♠ The bidding ends when three players in succession say “pass.” The final bid becomes the contract. The last person that does not pass is named the declarer. His partner is called the dummy. The other two players are called the opponents.

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The Bidding (4)

Think of the bidding as a pleasant conversation between friends. A bid is a number combined with a word. The word refers to the suit or notrump in which the player hopes the contract will be played. The number refers to the number of tricks the partnership is willing to commit to over the book of six.

Example: 1 is a commitment to take 6 + 1 = 7 tricks, and a suggestion of spades ♠

as the trump suit. If 1 is the final bid, it would be the contract.♠

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Declarer, Opening Leader and Dummy

The declarer is the player who first mentions the suit that ends up being trumps or who first mentions notrump.

The opening leader is the player to the left of the declarer who starts the play by making the opening lead, playing a card face-up on the table.

The dummy is declarer’s partner. After the opening lead, the dummy places his hand face-up on the table, and declarer calls the cards during the play for both hands.

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Guidelines for Making the Opening Lead♠ Against notrump contracts, it is a good idea to

lead your longest suit because that could be your best source of extra tricks. With a sequence, three or more cards in a row, (eg. J, 10, 9,) lead the top card of the sequence. If you don’t have a sequence, lead low.

♠ Against trump contracts, you can still lead sequence, but you no longer need to lead your longest suit. Your opponents have a trump suit and can usually prevent you from taking tricks in your long suit. They can trump in and win the trick. Sometimes it is a good idea to lead a short suit if it isn’t the trump suit. Your partnership wants to take tricks as quickly as possible.

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Guidelines for Making the Opening Lead♠ Making good opening leads is an essential skill in

playing bridge well.♠ Sometimes you’ll want to take your tricks quickly;

sometimes you’ll want to wait; sometimes you want to make an aggressive lead; sometimes you’ll want to make a passive lead; sometimes you’ll need to lead their trump suit.

♠ If you listen carefully to the bidding, you can often deduce what suit(s) your partner and the opponents are weak in, have length or shortness in , and so on.

♠ The objectives are to not give the declarer any easy tricks if at all possible.

♠ Opening leads is the topic of a separate lesson

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Taking Tricks in Notrump

A trick contains four cards, one contributed by each player. One player starts by leading a card, called the lead, placing it face up on the table. In clockwise rotation, each player has to follow suit, by playing a card of the same suit as the one led.

If a heart is led, for example, each player must play a heart if possible. Only if a player doesn’t have a heart can that person discard (i.e., play a card of another suit). The highest card in the suit led wins the trick for the player who played it. This is called playing in notrump.

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Taking Tricks with a Trump SuitHaving a trump suit is something like having one suit wild.

The rules of the game still require that if a player can follow suit, the player must.

When a player can no longer follow suit, however, a trump can be played, and the trump is higher and more powerful than any card in the suit led.

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A finesse is an opportunity in the play to take an extra trick due to the layout of the cards. It will be discussed more fully in Lesson 2, along with Promotion and Unblocking

Which hand has the opportunity to take the most tricks?

How? And Why? (If you figure this out, you have demonstrated ‘card sense’)

Finessing

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Guidelines for Opening the Bidding♠ With 0 to 12 points (HCP), and no good suit, pass.

♥ Always pass 12-point hands with 4-3-3-3 distribution♥ Bid with other distributions if you have 2 ½ quick tricks

♦ An Ace or a KQ=1 QT; a Kx or QJx=1/2 QT

♥ Bid with 12 points and lots of 8’s, 9’s and 10’s♥ Make a preemptive bid (2 or more) with a 5 to 7-card suit and 5-11

HCP

♠ With 13 or more points, open the bidding with one of your longest suits.

♠ With 15 to 17 high-card points and a balanced hand (one where all suits are represented with at least two or more cards), open 1NT (notrump).MEMORIZE THIS!

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Guidelines for Opening the BiddingA “pre-emptive bid” is a suit bid at the 2-level or

higher. It makes it more difficult for opponents to bid. It “pre-empts” them.

♠ It Is usually made with a 6-card or longer suit and fewer than opening points (usually 5-11)

Other opening bids can be made with stronger hands:

♠ 2NT is bid to show 20-21 points and a balanced or ‘flat’ hand.

♠ A bid of 2 is made with all hands with more than 22 points.

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Conventions♠ Sometimes, artificial bids (that mean something

else) are made with a ‘special’ understanding of the partnership.

♠ They are used to indicate a particular type of support for partner’s opening bid, to ask partner for more information, or to show distributional hands over opponents bids, etc.

♠ They are never ‘secret’ understandings, and if there is uncertainty about the bid by the opponents, it must be explained, fully.

♠ The ACBL maintains a list of allowable conventions, although others may be used in some club games and in advanced competition

♠ All partnership conventions must be on display on the partnership’s score card (also called a convention card)

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Opening Bids

& Responses

Defensive Bids

& Responses

Bidding System

NT Bids & Responses

Suit Bids & Responses

2-level Bids & Responses

Other Conventions &

Treatments

Meanings for Doubles

Bidding NT Over Suit Openings

Other Bids over Suit Openings

Bidding over NT openers

3 and 4-level Openers

Meanings of Q-Bids

Bidding over Preempts

Ace-asking Bids

Leads & Carding

A Typical Convention Card

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♠ With 5 or more cards in a suit, bid the longest ♠ With two 5 card or 6 card suits, bid the higher

ranking suit, first♠ With no 5+ card major, bid your longest minor♠ 4-4 in the minors, open 1♦

♠ 3-3 in the minors – bid your strongest minor♠ (Note: With better hands, other options exist.)

Opening Suit Bid Hierarchy(typically 12+-15- HCP)A ‘poor’ 15

A ‘good’ 12

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Contracts ♠ The bidding will lead to a variety of final contracts (a number and a suit or notrump).

♠ They are not equal in value since you score more for bidding and making certain contracts.

♠ They can be slams, game contracts, or part-game or partscore contracts.

♠ They can be Major suit (spades or hearts) contracts or minor suit (diamonds or clubs) contracts.

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♠ A trick containing a trump card is won by the player who played the highest trump.

♠ A trick not containing a trump card is won by the player who played the highest card of the suit led.

♠ The winner of each trick leads to the next trick. ♠ Note that the dummy is considered a separate “player” even though declarer

actually selects the cards.

♠ Each player is responsible for keeping track of the tricksIf a trick is won it is placed vertically on the table space in front of each playerIf a trick is lost it is placed horizontally on the table space in front of each player

♠ After 13 tricks have been completed, the play is over. ♠ Both sides must agree on the number of tricks won by declarer; then

the deal is scored.

The diagram at the right, shows that the first 8 tricks and the 11th trick were won. The 9th, 10th, 12th and 13th tricks were lost.

Winning of Tricks

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Vulnerability♠ Does not refer to your ability to play the game♠ On each deal, each side is said to be either

vulnerable or not♠ In duplicate play, the sides' vulnerabilities are

pre-defined, depending only on the number of the board.

♠ The scoring points that are won on a deal when making a contract and the points which are lost when failing to make a contract are significantly increased when a side is vulnerable.

♠ Accordingly, whether one is vulnerable or not can have a major impact on scoring and becomes an important factor in one’s bidding and play strategies.

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Scoring PointsWinning Tricks First Trick Subsequent Needed for game♠ Minor Suits 20 20 5 (100)♠ Major Suits 30 30 4 (120)♠ NT 40 30 3 (100)

Bonus Awards Non-Vul Vulnerable♠ Partial 50 50♠ Game 300 500♠ Small Slam 500 750♠ Grand Slam 1000 1500

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Scoring PointsHow many points for making a Vulnerable 3 contract with two ♣

overtricks?Base trick score – 3x20=60Add 50 points for a partialAdd 20 points for each overtrickTotal = 150 points

Note that if you had bid and made game (5 ), your score would ♣

have been a lot more for making the same tricks:Base trick score - 5x20 = 100Vulnerable game bonus = 500Total = 600 points

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Bonus Levels

♠ Partscores: In a partscore, the

partnership receives points for

every trick made plus a 50-point

bonus for making a partial score.

♠ The partnership is not eligible,

however, for the bonus it would

get for bidding a game or a slam.

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Bonus Levels♠ Games: There are five game bonuses which are

more attainable than a slam contract.♠ 3NT requires that you bid for and make 9 tricks.♠ 4 and 4 require that you bid and make 10 ♥ ♠

tricks. All three of these games can be bid when the partnership has a total of 26 points.

♠ 5 and 5 require that you bid and commit ♦ ♣

to making 11 tricks, and 29 points are suggested for a contract at this level.

♠ Experience has shown that if you and your partner have at least eight trump cards in your combined hands, you can usually take one more trick in a suit contract than you could in a notrump contract. That means that games in 3NT or 4 or 4 (if you have at least eight ♥ ♠

trumps) require about the same strength in high cards.

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Bonus Levels♠ Slams: You score highest for

bidding and making a Grand Slam of 7 , 7♣ ♦,7 ,7 ♥ ♠

or 7NT (notrump) where you can lose no tricks to the opponents.

♠ To bid a grand slam, the partnership should have a total of 37 points. The next best score comes from bidding and making a Small Slam of 6 , 6♣ ♦, 6♥, 6 ♠or 6NT where you can lose only one trick to the opponents.

♠ To bid a small slam, the partnership needs a total of 33 to 36 points.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet share some laughter at a local club game

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♠ Every other hand or so, based on the board number, one or both partnerships will be Vulnerable. ♥ Vulnerability increases the bonus point awards for games and slams.

♥ Vulnerability also increases the points awarded to the defenders if they beat the contract (“Set the hand”)

Non-Vulnerable Vulnerable

Game Bonus 300 500

Small Slam Bonus 500 750

Grand Slam Bonus 750 1000

Non-Vulnerable Vulnerable

First Trick Set 50 100

Subsequent tricks 100 200

Vulnerability

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♠ When a contract is bid but not made, penalties are awarded to the defenders for each trick below the contract.

♠ Penalty: Non- Vulnerable 50 points/trickVulnerable 100 points/trick

♠ A double increases the penalty for not making a contract.

Doubled and not making Non - Vul Vulnerable First Trick 100 200Second Trick 200 300Subsequent Tricks 300 300Redoubled and not making Non - Vul Vulnerable First Trick 200 400Second Trick 400 600

Subsequent Tricks 600 600

Setting the Contract

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These are points per trick

♠ If undoubled, overtricks are rewarded at the same level as regular tricks.

♠ If doubled and made, overtricks count double, plus there is a bonus added

♠ If doubled and redoubled, all values are doubled again!

Minor Suits 20 40 80 50 100Major Suits 30 60 120 50 100NT 30 60 120 50 100

Overtricks Dbl’d Rdbl’d Dbl’d Bonus Rdbld Bonus

Overtricks

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The Role of the Responder

♠ The partners on a bridge team have certain roles to play. The opening bidder describes his hand to his partner. Simplistically, the partner initially becomes the captain and assumes the role of deciding on the best denomination and the best level for the final contract. For example, he can pass, make a forcing bid to ask for more information , or pass captaincy by making an invitational bid.

♠ The partner of the opening bidder knows more about the combined strength of the two hands after hearing the opening bid and looking at his own hand.

♠ Because of later developments in the bidding, captainship frequently changes. For example, the person that bids Blackwood (asking bids for Aces and Kings) becomes the captain, and typically places the final contract

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Let’s Play Bridge !The first hand is in No Trump;

The second is a 4♥ Contract

NORTH ♠ 3 2♥ 5 4 3♦ A 4 3 2♣ K Q J 7

SOUTH ♠ A K♥ A K Q 2♦ 8 7 6 5♣ 6 5 4

Contract 3NTDealer SVulnerability N-S

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

P P P 1NT

P 3NT P P

P

Opening Lead ♠Q

Questions?1. How many tricks do you have to win?2. How many ‘top tricks’ do you have?3. Where are you likely to win the extra tricks?4. What needs to work for you to succeed?5. Did their bidding give you any clues in how to

proceed?6. What does the opening lead tell you?

7. What should you try, first?8. Is there any advantage in ducking the opening

lead?9. Are there communication problems?

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2 or 3♣’s or 4 ♥’s♣A onside or ♣’s, or ♥’s

have to be 3-3No

West probably has the QJ10 of spades

Lead to the ♣K and continue with the ♣Q

NoNo

44Lose the rest…

Trick #

On Lead

Lead 2nd 3rd 4th

1 W ♠Q ♠2 ♠4♠

K

2 S ♣4 ♣2 ♣J ♣A

3 E ♠5 ♠A ♠8♠

3

4 S ♣5 ♣10

♣

Q♣

3

5 N ♣K ♣8 ♣6♦

9

6 N ♥3 ♥8 ♥Q♥

6

7 S ♥K ♥7 ♥4♥

9

8 S ♥A ♥J ♥5♥

10

9 S ♥2 ♠9 ♦2♠

6

10 S ♦5 ♦J ♦A♦

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Playing the Hand

NORTH ♠ 10 7 2♥ J 10 8 6♦ 5 2♣ A 6 3 2

SOUTH ♠ J♥ A K Q 9 5♦ A K 6 4♣ 9 7 4

Contract 4 ♥Dealer SVulnerability N-S

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

1♥

1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 4♥

P P P

Opening Lead ♠ A

Questions?1. How many tricks do you have to win?2. How many ‘top tricks’ do you have?3. Where are you likely to win the extra

tricks?4. What needs to work for you to succeed?5. Did their bidding give you any clues in how

to proceed?6. What does the opening lead tell you?

7. What should you try, first?8. Is there any advantage in ducking the

opening lead?9. Are there communication problems?

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Ruff 2 diamonds high

No

West probably has the AK of spades

Pull 2 rounds of trumps, then Play diamonds

NoNo

East must not over-ruff

46Lose the rest…

Trick #

On Lead

Lead 2nd 3rd 4th

1 W ♠K ♠4 ♠2 ♠J

2 S ♠A ♠7 ♠3 ♥5

3 E ♥K ♥2 ♥6 ♥4

4 S ♥A ♥3 ♥8 ♥7

5 N ♦K ♦7 ♦2 ♦3

6 N ♦A ♦J ♦5 ♦8

7 S ♦4 ♦Q ♥10

♦

9

8 N ♠10 ♠5 ♥9 ♠6

9 S ♦6 ♠9 ♥J ♦10

10 S ♣A ♣5 ♣4 ♣8

Playing the Hand

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1. Assume your partner opens the bidding one heart. If the next player passes, which of these calls can you legally make?

A. PassB. 1♦

C. 1♠

D. 1 NTE. DoubleF. Redouble

2. How many tricks must be won to make each bid?A. 2♠ _____B. 3 NT _____C. 4 ♥_____D. 6 ♠ _____

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9

10

12

Quiz 1

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Trick Lead 2nd Hand 3rd Hand 4th Hand

A. 6♥ J♥ K♥ 10♥

B. 7♠ 10♠ 6♦ Q♣

C. 7♣ 8♠ A♠ 8♣

D. 10♦ J♦ Q♠ K♠

E. Q♥ A♥ 2♦ 3♦

F. 2♣ J♠ Q♠ K♥

Diamonds are Trump

Which hand wins the trick?

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1. The opening leader may lead any card in his hand. 2. If unable to follow suit, you must play a trump. 3. If dummy wins the first trick, dummy must lead next. 4. If a bid is doubled, any player is allowed to redouble. 5. You bid 1♥ and partner bids 4♥ , so partner is the declarer. 6. The dealer must make the first call in the bidding. 7. If you are the dealer, partner becomes the dummy. 8. If a player doubles, the bidding is immediately over. 9. If a spade is led, you must play a spade if you have one.

T

F

T

F

F

T

F

F

T

True or False?

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Homework♠ Learn how to shuffle and deal

cards comfortably♠ Practice sorting your hand

and fanning your cards♠ Calculate the most points you

can win as declarer in one hand

♠ Calculate the most points you can win as defender in one hand

♠ Determine the playing point count of all 64 hands on the attached sheets (HCP plus distributional points)

♠ Check off the hands you would open, and write down your opening bid.